MS 150 hits bumps but rides on
Registration, financial support decline with oil collapse
The layoffs at oil and gas company CGG were slow at first. Then they came in waves. Jesse Rivera knew his time would come.
Rivera lost his sales and marketing job in 2014, after 21 years at the company’s Houston office. The 54-year-old worked odd and contract jobs for a year, praying he’d find full-time work. Finally, last October, Rivera landed a full-time information technology position at the Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa.
No longer a casualty of plummeting oil prices, he could have walked away from his former company and colleagues entirely. But the BP MS 150, an annual two-day charity bike ride from Houston to Austin, made that impossible.
“I was disappointed by the way I was let go,” Rivera says, “but I also decided to keep riding because of the charity, and not for the company.”
Like Rivera, this weekend’s BP MS 150 has been rattled by the oil slump. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s top fundraiser nationwide is experiencing its biggest dip in registered riders since 1985, the year it launched. Some 11,000 cyclists are expected to ride this year, down from 13,000 in 2015. At least half of the 203 registered company teams with 10 or more riders come from the energy sector.
On top of that, severe weather expected for Sunday — lightning, heavy rainfall and flooding — forced organizers to cancel the second day of the ride, which now ends in La Grange. This is the third time weather has interrupted the 180-mile trek: The Saturday leg was canceled last year and in 2009.
“We’re all scrambling right now trying to figure out logistics,” Rivera said. “We still are riding day one, which is about 100 miles.”
Last year’s BP MS 150 ride had a record-breaking year, raising $20.5 million. This year, the prognosis isn’t as sunny.
Fewer riders means a decline in donations and less financial support from companies that traditionally went all out with lavish rest stops, food and other amenities.
At BP, which sponsors the ride, the company team is down 150 riders from last year — from 550 to 400.
“We are definitely seeing an impact,” says John Mingé, chairman and president of BP America, who will be riding for the first time. “Every dollar counts and our team has to look at the ride through a lens of efficiency.”
Sharing costs
BP continues to be the top fundraiser, surpassing $16 million since it became the title sponsor in 2001. Last year, the company team raised more than $1 million. And last summer, BP renewed its sponsorship for the ride through 2018, despite falling oil prices.
“It says a lot about our commitment to the MS Society that we upped our sponsorship knowing it’s a tough time for our industry,” Mingé says. “MS is a terrible disease, and we still haven’t found a cure. We’ve done it (the ride) in good and bad years. If we have to cut, we’ll find other places to cut.”
This year’s food won’t be as fancy as in years past.
“The food will be good quality, but we won’t have shrimp tacos,” Mingé says.
While the team’s fundraising is down this year, the final tally won’t come until July 31 when all of the donations must be turned in, he added.
But it’s volunteers and dedicated cyclists like Rivera, the CGG team captain for 11 years before being laid off, who make up the backbone of the ride.
The last year Rivera worked at CGG, the company team had about 100 riders. This year, only 40 riders are on the team.
“I had a lot of dear friends riding with the team, so there was never a doubt that I wouldn’t be a part of it,” Rivera says. “I wanted to give them the proper support so they would continue to thrive.”
Other company teams participating in the BP MS 150 have devised creative solutions to deal with shrinking teams and resources, said Kelli Dreiling, vice president of development for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“We definitely see a difference this year across the board,” Dreiling says. “We have fewer riders, less fundraising, so companies are looking at cutting costs, but they want to still provide the same experience.”
ConocoPhillips and Anadarko, for example, are sharing catering costs, while EOG Resources and EVX Midstream, as well as Chevron and GE, are sharing tents to cut costs, she said. (Chevron is returning to the ride for the first time since 2012.) Tent costs can range from $500 to $5,000. Other fees include the $100 to $130 registration per rider that some companies incur and additional costs for jerseys and practice rides.
The cancellation of the Sunday leg of the race, Dreiling said, couldn’t be helped.
“We tried to wait as long as we possible could with the weather forecast,” Dreiling said. “Safety is our priority for all of our participants, so we err on the side of caution. We don’t want our riders and volunteers in any danger. We are just as disappointed as anyone.”
Riders will still be able to camp out overnight in La Grange on Saturday, Dreiling said, and the entertainment and festivities will go on as planned.
The National MS Society will provide water, food and snacks for registered participants, as well as a medical team and 50 vans to transport riders.
Giving hope
Beyond raising money and getting a thorough workout, the ride is also is a great networking opportunity, Dreiling says.
“I’ve seen so many deals made on this ride,” she says. “People get promotions, learn about job opportunities and make business deals with vendors. It’s like the golf course.”
And for those with multiple sclerosis, including former BP employee Koreen Burrow, the ride signifies hope, even in an economic downturn.
“When I was diagnosed there were literally no treatments for MS,” says Burrow, who got her diagnosis 25 years ago. “Now there are more than a dozen FDA drugs out there, and the diagnoses are being made earlier and more easily. It’s been tremendous.”
In 2008, Burrow and her husband, David Fox, set a goal to ride for MS in all 50 states. The couple, who has raised $140,000 for the National MS Society, are now at state number 43 and plan to meet their goal next year. They’ll also be riding in the BP MS 150 this weekend.
“It’s even more important because we need that hope,” Burrow said. “We’ll keep riding until there’s a cure.”